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Researchers followed three species: Bombus terrestris, the buff-tailed bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius, the red-tailed bumblebee and Bombus pascuorum, the common carder bee.

They discovered that colonies produced more daughter queens that survived to the following year when colonies were located within 820 feet (250m) to 3,280 feet (1,000m) of flowery habitats.

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Spring and summer flowers provide nectar to support the life cycle of bees. Pictured is a Bombus pascuorum, the common carder bee, foraging from Vetch

THE LIFE CYCLE OF A BUMBLEBEE

In the UK, most bumblebee colonies live for less than a year.

Nests are formed in the spring by a single queen who will give birth to a few hundred daughter workers.

At the end of the summer, new queens are born.

The daughter queens quickly mate before going into winter hibernation, ready to start a new colony the following spring.

But understanding survival between these critical life cycle stages has proved challenging because in the wild colonies are almost impossible to find.

Spring and summer-flowering plants are crucial for bees because they provide pollen and nectar throughout every stage of their life cycle.

Dr Claire Carvell, a senior ecologist at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, which led the study, said, 'By decoding the clues hidden within the DNA of bumblebee queens and workers, and combining these with detailed landscape surveys, our research demonstrates that the survival of bumblebee families between years is positively linked with habitat quality at a landscape scale.'

'The findings suggest that increasing flowers provided by spring-flowering trees, hedgerow plants and crops across the landscape - in combination with summer flower resources along field edges - can increase the probability of family survival by up to four times.'

In the UK, most bumblebee colonies live for less than a year.

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In the UK, most bumblebee colonies live for less than a year. Pictured is a Bombus terrestris, the buff-tailed bumblebee

Nests are formed in the spring by a single queen who will give birth to a few hundred daughter workers.

At the end of the summer, new queens are born.

BEES LEARN TO USE TOOLS BY WATCHING OTHERS

Earlier this month a study showed that bees can teach themselves to play football.

The bees learned football for a sugar reward, released from a yellow ball every time they successfully pushed it to the middle of a ‘pitch’.

But the study showed for the first time that bees can learn by watching and, rather than copy what they have seen, change it to make it better.

A study by Queen Mary University of London found the insects, given a selection of balls, cleverly went for the closest even after watching demonstrator bees which always chose the furthest away.

The daughter queens quickly mate before going into winter hibernation, ready to start a new colony the following spring.

But understanding survival between these critical life cycle stages has proved challenging because in the wild colonies are almost impossible to find.

The new research overcame these challenges by matching daughter queens to their mothers and sisters using advanced molecular genetics, and estimating the locations of colonies in the landscape from the locations of their workers.

The results provide strong support for environmentally-friendly management of farmland to provide more flowers in hedgerows, meadows and along the edges of arable fields.

Dr Matthew Heard, an ecologist at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, said: 'While there is an urgent need for more robust data on the patterns and causes of pollinator population decline, our study strongly suggests that conservation interventions can have a lasting, positive impact on wild pollinators in agricultural landscapes.'

The researchers studied the family trees of wild bees from summer to summer by collecting and analysing DNA samples.

All of the bees were living in farmland in Buckinghamshire.

Professor Andrew Bourke, from the University of East Anglia, said: 'It has been very gratifying to contribute to this research, which has brought together a great range of scientific skills to help us understand one of the most pressing of today's conservation problems - how best to maintain our essential bee populations.'

Can bees really have regional accents? Researchers investigate

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Dr Seirian Sumner, from University College London, led the genetic element of the study.

She said: 'This scale of experiment would be impossible without the use of genetic markers: as well as providing important insights, the study also showcases the power of molecular ecology in guiding our management of our natural resources.'

The study was led by scientists from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology working with researchers from the University of East Anglia, ZSL (Zoological Society of London) and University College London.

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